100 Ways
by Carpe Nocturne
Summary: Four kisses that never happened between Zuko and Katara. YET! 100 drabbles written for zutara100 on livejournal. Quick way to cure your AWS. Zutara
1. Beginnings

**Prompt:** # 01 - Beginnings

**Title:** Another Journey

**Word Count:** 220

**Rating:** PG

**Summary:** Katara thinks about the moments in the cave with Zuko as they leave the fallen city of Ba Sing Se.

**Author's Notes:** Ho'shit. It's been a while since I posted something here. XD This was written for zutara100 on livejournal but before I posted it there, I wanted to see what people thought of it here. So, please tell me what you think.

**Disclaimer:** All characters and places belong to Nickelodeon. I no own. You no sue.

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She watched the ground fall away from under Appa's feet, the opening of the Crystal Caves and the fallen city of Ba Sing Se shrinking out of sight. 

Aang's heartbeat slows and flutters underneath her hand but Katara doesn't notice the slight change. Her mind keeps flitting back to few moments in the cave with Zuko.

The feel of his scar under the pads of her fingers.

The hope that swelled in her chest as she watched the conflict swirl in his eyes.

That same hope dropping and transforming into a burning anger in the pit of her stomach as he shot fireball after fireball towards her.

She tries desperately to forget. Hating herself more and more every minute that she can't. Katara doesn't know the future or even if Aang will survive the night. What she does know, however, is that this isn't the end of their long journey. This is only the beginning of another one.

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P.S. Reviews feed the soul. /wink wink/


	2. Reminders

**Prompt:** # 06 - Past

**Title:** Reminders

**Word Count:** 291

**Rating:** PG

**Summary:** They both have pasts. Some are just worse than others.

**Author's Notes:** Another short one. It would have been longer but school started up and with it AP English and trying to write an original story for Creative Writing (a new chapter due every two weeks. YIKES!).

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They have both done things in the past. Things that burn in the back of their minds and others that make them smile and laugh when brought up again. 

Katara's past lies in the necklace that hangs around her neck. It is both a gift and a burden. When she's sad or thoughtful, she traces the familiar etchings carved into the smooth blue stone, and remembers the brief moments she spent with her mother before her death. When angry, she rips it off and thinks of the so-called 'prince' who stole and bribed her with it. She glares at the it, the tears in her eyes and anger on her face reflecting in the blue stone, and hopes that he can feel her hate and pain wherever he is.

Zuko's past lies in the scar on his face. It is nothing but a cruel reminder of his exile and multiple failures to catch the Avatar. Of his betrayal to his uncle and to the girl who offered to heal it (he swears he sometimes feels the daggers of her glare on his back). Zuko knows he has already lost the only two people who have ever accepted his past and that no one most likely ever will again.

All he can do is look to the future and hope that someday they'll forgive him.

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P.S. Everytime you read but don't review, another Zutara fan turns Kataang. Please think of the Fandom.


	3. And the World Falls Down

**Prompt:** # 90 - Safe

**Title:** And The World Falls Down

**Word Count:** 275

**Rating:** PG-13

**Summary:** As the World Falls Down, Katara knows she's safe.

**Author's Notes:** Not one of my favorites. There's slightly less Zutara!angst but still some angst. I'm HOPING I can get one more drabble out today.

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Katara finds it ironic that the Fire Nation is destroyed by the very element they have used to destroy so many others. The stench of burnt skin and wood fills the air and covers the land. The roaring of the fire and pops of the crackling wood hum in her ears as she stands on a cliff watching the one thing that she despises the most finally die. 

It's a beginning and an end. As poetic as it is grotesque. The war has ended but there is still the matter of rebuilding the cities and the trust between the nations. The Fire Nation is gone but the scars it left are not.

She hears footsteps behind her but she doesn't turn. She doesn't need to. Two strong, pale arms wrap around her waist from behind. She stiffens before turning around and burying her head in his chest. She sucks in a breath and cries for the people who have died. For her mother. For Aang ,who sacrificed his life to bring peace and for Zuko and all the pain his father inflicted.

Zuko just stands there and holds her. Whispering words of reassurance and love into her ear every so often. The fact that she needs him is all that matters.

And as the world falls down around them, Katara feels safe for the first time in years.

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A/N: Please press the cute little purple review button at the bottom of the page. Reviews feed my writing soul, and mine is very hungry. /puppy dog eyes/ 


	4. Insults and Waterbenders

**Prompt:** # 21 - Dirty

**Title:** Insults and Waterbenders

**Word Count:** 303 (WHOO! I FINALLY GOT PAST 300!)

**Rating:** PG

**Summary:** Payback is a bitch.

**Author's Notes:** You asked for fluff so here it is.

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It had started out as something trivial. Nothing more than a simple insult muttered under his breath. But somehow it had snowballed into another huge argument with insults and crockery flying. 

"At least I'm not an egocentric and over emotional boy!"

"Over emotional?! I'm not the one who went crazy over something so small an insult as that!" he yelled as he rubbed the spot on his head where the jug had hit him.

"Calling me a water bending witch isn't a small insult," she shot another water whip at his head.

"Fine. How about peasant? Is that better?"

"Peasant?!"

"Oh you're right, filthy water peasant is _much _better," he smirked and crossed his arms triumphantly.

Suddenly she is very close. So close that he can smell the faint smell of summer rain and jasmine that is her and practically feel her breath on his lips. And she's smiling. Not just a regular smile but _the_ smile. He gulps.

Before he can react, her lips are on his. His gut reaction is to push her away but her lips are so warm and inviting. His eyelids slide shut and his arms somehow found their way around her waist.

He's too engrossed in the kiss to notice Katara's hand moving behind her back to command a small water whip to wrap around his ankle and by the time he does, it's too late.

Zuko falls into the small puddle behind him. Katara looms over him, a smirk set firmly in place on her face, "I'd rather be a filthy water peasant than a mud covered fire prince."

He groans.

_Note to self: NEVER insult Katara again. _

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P.S. Please review! 


	5. Night Visions

**Author: **carpexnocturne

**Title: **Night Visions

**Word Count: **426

**Rating: **PG

**Summary: **_The water bender (he tries but cannot remember her name) backs away and the moon slips away behind the clouds once again. _

**Author's Notes: **Sorry it took so freaking long to update. Life just doesn't want to seem to cooperate with my writing spurts. This is based on the amazing work of purushi on the katarazuko lj community. So I bide you adieu, as I have a history project to do. [Ha that rhymes!

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It is dark in Zuko's room. A lone flame flickers in the darkness, casting shadows of doubt across the banner baring the golden flame of the Fire Nation. No moonlight enters the room, it is hidden behind the clouds for now. As he lies on his bed, he watches the dancing shadows and thinks of everything he has done to get back to this palace, this room, and eventually the throne. That is if Azula doesn't kill him first. 

His eyes drift close and he evens out his breathing in an attempt to go to sleep. _In. Out. In. Out. _He relaxes for the first time since his feet touched Fire Nation soil.

The creaking of the door breaks this small pleasure and Zuko's eyes shoot open, amber glinting in the darkness. "Who is it?" He snarls.

No reply. He sits up, red silk sheets falling into his lap, and lights a flame in the palm of his hand. He is not prepared for what he sees and the flame flickers.

A sliver of moonlight breaks free from the clouds and reflects in Ocean Blue depths set in a tan face.

"What are you doing here?"

She does not reply, only steps closer. He watches as her left hand opens her water skin and the water glides out in a silver stream into her right hand to form a ball. She comes closer and closer until the ball of water is right in front of his scarred eye. His good eye widens and he looks at her, astonishment slipping through his mask of cold indifference. She does not open her mouth but he hears her words all the same, they echo in the back of his mind and haunt his every thought. _This is what you could have. I could have healed you. _

The water bender (he tries but cannot remember her name) backs away and the moon slips away behind the clouds once again. She disappears back into the dark. He calls out but the words do not pass his lips. The flame across the room dies out.

Zuko jolts awake, a cold sweat covering his body and causing his sheets to tangle around his legs. He looks around expecting the water bender to still be there but there is nothing. He flops back onto the bed and glances at the banner again before flipping over, back facing the flame and all it represents. The faint smell of rain lingers in the air as blue eyes flicker behind his eyelids.

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P.S. Everytime you don't review, Zuko says another bad!fic Maiko line. Do you really want that to happen? 


	6. Four Seasons, Four Loves

**Prompt: **#69 - Seasons

**Title: **Four Seasons, Four Loves

**Word Count: **817

**Rating: **PG

**Summary: **Zuko thinks back on the women in his life.

**Author's Notes: **This relates back to my four seasons theory. I haven't watched the episodes featuring Jin or Song in a long time so don't badger me about how the seasons were different in the actual episodes. The actual seasons don't play a part in my theory anyway, it's more about the colors the girls wear or their personalities.

Sorry it's taken so long to update but school has been a major pain and I've been too busy working on my own novel. I'm super sorry guys! I'm going to try updating every day until Christmas but I'm not making any promises.

P.S. Anyone going to Anime South in Destin, FL?

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_Spring_

While in the Earth Kingdom, Zuko meets Song. The cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom and he is starting a new life. She is everything he should want in a woman and more. Beautiful, kind, and compassionate. They share the same marks and Zuko knows that this is something rare.

But he does not take this chance and as soon as uncle is better, leaves and doesn't look back.

_Summer_

It is in the middle of the summer when he meets Jin. The heat outside grows and more customers start coming into the tea shop to escape it (though why they would want hot tea in a month like this, Zuko will never know). She's nice, he admits, but there is no spark in her eyes, or resolve in her heart. Yet Zuko agrees to give her the chance he hadn't allowed Song to take and he believes for a second that maybe this is the catalyst he has been waiting for, the one thing that could finally set him on the path of good.

But as he leans in to return Jin's kiss, all he sees is blue and he pulls away quickly before running, too scared that he might see the same fear and hate reflected in Jin's green eyes that he once saw in a pair of ocean depths.

_Fall_

It is several months later and Zuko is back in the Fire Nation. Back to the familiar colors of gold and red, the colors of power and death. Mai is the perfect companion, everything a respectful Fire Nation woman should be. Everything he is expected to like in a woman and marry for. For a while, this is enough.

But something changes. Mai becomes more of an annoyance and less of a companion, like she has shed all the things he loved about her and let them drift on the wind, leaving nothing but the bored, stoic girl he remembers before he was banished. He becomes more aware of the gossip of the servants, and his father ignores him even more than before (if that's even possible). The night in the caves haunts his dreams, the many lives ruined and chances missed echoing in one sentence. The temperature wanes slightly and so does Zuko's resolve to stay in the Fire Nation.

_Winter_

It has been two years since Zuko left the Fire Nation and joined the Avatar and his rag-tag group of friends on their quest to defeat his father and a year since his being crowned the new Fire Lord.

The cold of the artic wind bites into Zuko's cheeks and he subconsciously raises his body temperature a little more. Of all the plans Zuko has made in his life, traveling to the South Pole to meet his fiancé's family was never one of them. Then again neither had joining the Avatar.

"Sir! The Village has been spotted. We're preparing to dock." Lt. Jee yells down to him from the balcony of the ship. He looks up and nods, the butterflies in his stomach gathering in his throat. He takes a deep breath and pushes them back down. _I'm the Fire Lord,_ he reminds himself. _If I can reform one of the most ruthless countries in the world than I can certainly handle meeting Katara's father._

But as the familiar crank and thud of the metal plank hitting snow reaches his ears, he's not so sure. He doesn't have long to worry before a blur of blue and white fur crashes into him and sends him sprawled across the deck.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you," Katara whispers into his neck, puffs of hot hair tickling the pale skin exposed between the folds of his robes. Zuko smiles and wraps his arms around her waist, "I think I have a pretty good idea."

The melted snow is seeping into his robes and he's sure that he's going to get a nasty cold from all of this but he just can't bring himself to care. The snows keeps falling and Zuko smiles.

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AN: Eh... Didn't like the ending all that much. 

Again, sorry it took so long to update. If you realllyyy want more updates, please review. My poor little writing soul is starving.


	7. Four Kisses That Never Happened pt 1

**Prompt:** # 036 - Kiss

**Title:** Four Kisses That Never Happened (But Totally Should Have)

**Word Count:** 665

**Rating:** PG-13

**Summary:** Four kisses that never happened between Zuko and Katara. (YET!)

**Author's Notes:** So, I'm kind of going with the style of my last drabble but it's necessary for my idea. The other half will be up as soon as I can figure out how to write them but I just HAD to post this.

P.S. Yes, the second part is supposed to be based on Chapter 3. I thought it would be cool to put things from Zuko's POV

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_**I**_

Their first kiss was an accident. Zuko had not walked Katara back to the campsite after a candlelit dinner or swept her off her feet after proclaiming his love.

No, it had happened on a sweltering day two days before they invaded the Fire Nation and nerves plus the sweltering heat had done nothing but cause the cord of tension that lingered between the group to pull tighter.

Zuko couldn't remember what happened. One moment they had been arguing over what was best for Aang and the next he was catching a very shocked Katara as she fell. _Right_. _On. His. Lips. _(He swore that the ground had shifted and he had heard a distant cry of "_Yes!" _that sounded suspiciously like the girl earth bender).

It was awkward, unplanned, and bloody fantastic. They stare at each other for a moment, too stunned to pull apart, but then slowly, ever so slowly, her eyes droop close and the pressure on his lips grows.

He pushes back, ignoring the rock digging into his spine (he knows it's going to leave a bruise but he just can't seem to care) or the fact that her brother is going to kill him for this later (again, he doesn't care all that much right now). And like most things between them, it becomes a battle of tangled limbs and will.

Zuko swears he can feel the gound shake beneath him but whether that was from the kiss or Aang going into the Avatar state, he wasn't sure.

**II**

Their next kiss was spent on a hill right after the fall of Ozai. His muscles scream in protest as he makes the long hike up but Zuko ignores it, he did make a promise after all.

'Just give in… you'll see her later,' his mind whispers but Zuko shakes his head. No, he has to see her. He has to see her eyes, he needs proof. Proof that she's_ alive_. So he trudges on, blades scraping the ground and eyes burning from the smoke in the air. 

When he reaches the top, the first thing he notices is the burning palace and all he can think is his _home_ is burning. _'No, not home,' _he corrects. _'Never home.'_

Then, standing against the bloody sky and burning earth, Zuko sees her. Her clothes are tattered and hanging off her body, blood dotting the blue fabric. She does not move and for a second he wonders if this is some horrible trick that his exhausted mind has concocted. She is never this still, never this cold.

His swords fall to the ground and he quietly walks up behind her. She stiffens, war-ridden body exhausted and aware, but quickly relaxes and turns to face him. Salt trails streak down her face, leaving tracks through the smudges of soot and grime. She reaches for his face, shaking hands tracing each cheek and lingering on his scar (he never thought her hands would be calloused).

"You came…" she whispers her voice hoarse from the fight. Zuko's throat tightens, everything he has thought he would say clumping in his throat, and all he can do is nod. Katara smiles through her tears and brings his face down to hers. His arms automatically wrap around her waist and he puts all that he is into this kiss.

And as the world comes crashing down, Zuko finds peace.

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A/N: I just had to get this out before the snow hits. (Though we're only going to get 1-4 inches, that's like a Godsend and state-wide emergency here in Alabama. Pathetic, I know but I am so freaking excited. XD) Hope you liked it and PLEASE review. It'll inspire me to write even more! 


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